CONTAGIOUS BOVINE PLEUROPNEUMONIA (CBPP) CaDDiS Home Page




Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is an infectious disease of lungs in cattle caused by Mycoplasma mycoides subsp mycoides. It can occasionally be found in water buffaloes and yak. Although it has been eradicated from the USA, South Africa and Australia, it is endemic throughout most of semi-arid sub-Saharan Africa, specially in a wide belt running from West Africa to Somalia. It is also found in many other places around the world, such as India, China, South East Asia, southern and eastern Europe. CBPP is spread by inhalation of infected droplets expelled by animals with the disease.  Because the organism can only survive a few hours outside the host, direct contact is needed for infection to be passed on. This is why infection is spread faster in places where cattle are gathered together, e.g. in housing, in transit, etc. CBPP is one of the most serious diseases of cattle in the tropical areas which can cause great economical loses if it is not controlled. Suspected cases should be reported to the veterinary authorities to prevent it from spreading. Vaccination is an effective option for controlling the disease. However, it needs to be combined with other measures to keep the disease under a total control.
 

Clincal signs:

The affected animals usually have a fever, breathe rapidly and are generally depressed. When the lungs become more infected, these animals develop a cough and their breathing gets increasingly difficult and painful. The sick animals are usually reluctant to move. In  order to relieve the pain of breathing, these animals stand with their head extended and elbows turned out. About half of the infected die within several days to a few weeks of the clinical signs appearing. The other half recover, but remain carriers of infection.

Treatment:

In non-endemic areas, treatment is rarely used as it may convert clinical cases to clinically normal carriers. The emphasis is usually on prevention and eradication of the disease. However, in endemic areas, treatment may be the only option. Sulfadimidine and tylosin are the drugs in use. Tylosin has to be injected intramuscularly every twelve hours for three days.  

Control measures:

When CBPP spreads to a new area, every effort should be made to eliminate the infection by slaughtering all the affected and in-contact animals. In endemic areas, vaccination may be an effective option to control the disease. Several vaccines have been developed, and the effective ones are those based on live mycoplasma organisms. However, it is difficult to use in practice because mycoplasma strains that are mild enough to be used safely are usually poor to stimulate immunity, whereas those that are good immunogens may cause severe reactions. None of the existing vaccines can confer live-long immunity, hence, they have to be repeated each year.   Successful control of the disease should combine vaccination with other measures. In ideal situations, all the clinical cases and carriers should be slaughtered. However, this is too expensive and not feasible to implement in reality. Steps must be taken to minimise the spread of the disease. When moving cattle into a new area, tests should be carried out to detect any infected or carrier animals which should be removed.
 

WWW Sites of Relevance

World Organisation for Animal Health

University of Missouri - Social Sciences Unit